The Ethics of Poverty and Power

Richard W. Miller

Powerful moral arguments richly informed by empirical facts of power and poverty

A rigorous critique of the policies of leading governments and organizations

Offers practical policy solutions to pressing problems

Features an extensive, up-to-date discussion of the ethics of global climate change

Globalizing Justice

The Ethics of Poverty and Power

Richard W. Miller

Description

Combining deep moral argument with extensive factual inquiry, Richard Miller constructs a new account of international justice. Though a critic of demanding principles of kindness toward the global poor and an advocate of special concern for compatriots, he argues for standards of responsible conduct in transnational relations that create vast unmet obligations. Governments, firms and people in developed countries, above all, the United States, by failing to live up to these responsibilities, take advantage of people in developing countries.

Miller's proposed standards of responsible conduct offer answers to such questions as: What must be done to avoid exploitation in transnational manufacturing? What framework for world trade and investment would be fair? What duties do we have to limit global warming? What responsibilities to help meet basic needs arise when foreign powers steer the course of development? What obligations are created by uses of violence to sustain American global power?

Globalizing Justice provides new philosophical foundations for political responsibility, a unified agenda of policies for responding to major global problems, a distinctive appraisal of 'the American empire', and realistic strategies for a global social movement that helps to move humanity toward genuine global cooperation.

Globalizing Justice

The Ethics of Poverty and Power

Richard W. Miller

Author Information

Richard W. Miller, Cornell University

Globalizing Justice

The Ethics of Poverty and Power

Richard W. Miller

Reviews and Awards

"Richard Miller has given us a work of great political urgency concentrating on the political responsibilities of citizens of wealthy and powerful societies who interact with the worlds poor through a complex network of transactions and relationships. The theoretical position he defends is fresh and original and will lead many readers to reconsider conventional ways of thinking about global justice. It will also encourage them to engage more deeply with the literatures of world politics and global political economy, which inform the argument throughout. No other recent book on Miller's subject displays a similar combination of philosophical imagination and deep engagement in the realities of global political and economic life." - Charles Beitz, Princeton University

"In his attempt to discover what obligations citizens of rich countries have to those in the developing world, Miller breaks a new path between radical cosmopolitanism and fair bargaining. Filled with concrete historical detail as well as philosophizing, this book is a superb example of applied ethics. Its recommendations cannot be ignored by those of us who are critical of American foreign policy, but do not know exactly what alternative to advocate. The global-warming discussion is particularly enlightening" - John Roemer, Yale University

"Where Miller distinguishes himself is in his political analysis...The depth of his engagement sets a new standard for combining rigorous work in applied ethics with a detailed analysis of world politics, which all those working in international political theory will be hard pressed to meet." - Joseph Hoover, International Affairs

"Richard Miller establishes a thesis about global justice that should have been obvious for a long time ... Among other things, through his extensive study of the research done on the Iraq War, the reader will see how the U.S., the paradigm controlling developed country, has done things to maintain its power, things considerably out of proportion with the demands of global justice. Thank you Richard Miller for articulating this point with empirical and conceptual power!" - Joel Dittmer, Philosophy in Review